The UNC Child Development Research Institute conducts a major research program in the area of mental retardation and child development, drawing together scientists from many disciplines. The Institute orientation includes as relevant and highly important such factors as the retarding effects of cultural deprivation and emotional disturbance. The Institute consists of two physically separate research centers, each representing an interdisciplinary approach to research relating to retarded or potentially retarded children. The Frank Porter Graham Child Development Research Center places primary emphasis upon the education, psychological and social aspect of cild development. The cumulative and interactie effects of multiple dimensions of the developing organisms are of particular importance in the overall program concept. The Biological Sciences Research Center program emphasizes the biological and medical aspects of development. The program is primarily concerned with the development and maturation of the central nervous system and the bio-medical factors affecting its proper functioning. Basic research on infrahuman populations and clinical research on the biology of the developing and/or retarded central nervous system are included. A second major division of the B.S.R.C. is devoted to training medical, scientific and para-medical personnel in the diagnosis and management of children with developmental deficit.